VIJAYAWADA: Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath on Monday said the State government has submitted all clarifications to the doubts raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) with regard to Rs 48,000 crore. There is a proper account for every penny spent by the State government, he said.
The minister reiterated that the Comprehensive Financial Management System (CFMS) established by the previous TDP government is the cause for all the confusion.
“During the TDP regime, the CFMS CEO post was given to a private person (authorising to manage state finances), whereas our government appointed an IAS officer to the post,” he pointed out.
Speaking to mediapersons in New Delhi, Buggana said out of the total Rs 48,509 crore, cash transaction was carried out only for Rs 224 crore, that too towards the payment of GST to the Centre. All the remaining Rs 48,200 odd-crore was book adjustment transactions. In such a circumstance, where is the possibility of misappropriation of Rs 48,000 crore as being alleged by the TDP leaders, he asked.
“Accounts and audits are different. Accounts come first and the audit reports next. In the accounts, the CAG mentioned that they have no clarity on some of the accounts. The CAG said there is no clarity with regard to Rs 26,839 crore in one account, Rs 9,100 odd-crore in another account and Rs 8,891 crore in yet another account. We have written a letter to the CAG on October 14, 2021, explaining the accounts related to Rs 48,509 crore,” the minister said.
Out of the total Rs 2,03,500 -crore expenditure in 2020-21, Rs 66,500 crore was spent for paying salaries and pensions, Rs 33,750 crore on debt payment, Rs 65,500 crore for direct benefit transfer (DBT) and non-DBT schemes, and the remaining Rs 37,774 crore on infrastructure development works, he explained. “Though there are clear accounts related to the Rs 48,509 crore, the TDP leaders are making unnecessary allegations against the government,” the minister said.
Accusing the TDP leaders of adopting double standards on State revenues, he said in 2018-19, the government got Rs 95,214 revenue through various taxes. Going by the 10% increase in revenue/year, the government should get Rs 1,15,209 crore in 2020-21. However, the revenue was confined to Rs 85,264 crore, which is Rs 30,000 crore less than expected.
Despite the dip in revenue, the government extended aid to the people during the pandemic, he said. Stating that the government took Rs 1,04,539 crore under ways and means to aid the common man during the hard times, and repaid the whole money by the end of the fiscal. Despite there being no pandemic, the TDP government took Rs 59,868 crore under ways and means in 2018-19 and did not pay Rs 139 crore.
The TDP government in 2018-19 showed Rs 98,049 crore as book adjustment transactions as special bills, while the YSRC government showed just Rs 54,183 crore as book adjustment transactions in 2020- 21.Buggana said while the TDP government spent 86.28% of the budget estimates in 2018-19, the YSRC government spent 90.50% and 96.02% of budgetary estimates in 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively.
Taking a dig at the TDP leaders for demanding the declaration of a financial emergency in AP, he said that financial emergency should be promulgated as the previous TDP government had kept Rs 40,000-crore bills pending. Claiming that the YSRC government handled the pandemic effectively, he asked if a financial emergency be declared for that too.